Read Online A Bloom in Winter by T. J. Brown - Free Book Online Page B

called friends. During one memorable dinner, she, Ro, and Pru had watched wide-eyed as Walter Sickert had drawn an illustration on their dining room wall to prove a point to the other guests. Mrs. Tannin had been aghast, but their father had laughed and laughed and wouldn’t let the wall be washed for weeks. She smiled at the memory, forgetting her anxiety.
    But her nerves returned by the time the train screeched to a stop in Paddington Station. She had no sooner stepped off the platform than Kit wrapped her into a giant bear hug.
    “I thought you would never get here,” he told her.
    “I told you when I was coming, you twit.” She smiled up athim, noting his suit, impeccable as always. He was almost but not quite a dandy, but as Victoria enjoyed a well-dressed man, she didn’t much mind.
    They linked arms and dodged throngs of people as he led her to where men were unloading the luggage. He handed a porter some money to carry the two trunks Victoria had brought with her. Then he led her out of the station. “Here now, why don’t you skip this boring meeting thing and let me show you the sights?”
    She swatted his arm, laughing. “I was born and raised in London. I’ve seen the sights.”
    “You haven’t seen them with me, though. Think of how much fun we could have at Kensington Gardens or Big Ben. I bet you could get one of the Queen’s guardsmen to talk if anyone could.”
    “I am going to the meeting! Now, where is your car?”
    “My driver will meet us out front. How about if we go see if London Bridge is falling down yet, or we could visit Dickens’s birthplace, or go to Madame Tussauds, or even go to Harrods and see if we can’t find the proverbial looking glass.”
    He opened the door of a large silver touring car for her and then ran around the other side and hopped in.
    “You’re being a goose! No, we are going to 197 Lexington Place.” She reached forward and gave the driver the address. “Sorry it’s so crumpled,” she said, her face heating. “I’ve been hanging on to it for a bit.”
    “That’s all right, miss. I can read what it says.”
    Victoria gave him a brilliant smile and Kit pulled her back.
    “Stop trifling with the driver and pay attention to me,” he commanded.
    “Oh, pooh, you don’t need my attention. You can go to one of your girls for that.”
    “Who told you about my girls? No, don’t tell me. Tell Elaine they are a figment of her imagination. And even if they weren’t, I’m with you now, and my best friend is looking quite fetching today.”
    “Do you think?” she asked, a bit more anxiously than she wanted to. She’d chosen a taupe corduroy gored skirt and matching jacket with an Astrakhan collar and braid trim. On her head she wore a black velvet chapeau, with one simple black feather on the side. On the one hand she didn’t want to dress too severely, in case Hairy Herbert (stupid Kit anyway) detested suffragettes, but on the other hand she needed to look serious and not young.
    “Yes, you do. And who cares what Hairy Herbert thinks anyway?”
    She sniffed. “I do. It’s important I make a good first impression. I would like to earn enough money so that I can do what I like.”
    “Uh-oh, you brought up money. Surely you know that’s forbidden among our set?”
    “I do think that is silly, don’t you? Especially when it’s all anyone thinks about.”
    He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s why I love you, Victoria, you say things no one else will.”
    There was an awkward moment when the word love hung between them, but Victoria carried on as if she hadn’t noticed. “For instance, I’m not supposed to talk about the way my uncle basically controls all our money until I’m twenty-five or until I get married—”
    Kit sat up straight. “He what?” he interrupted. “That’s not possible. Especially not with Rowena—she’s twenty-two, isn’t she? She could actually protest that in court.”
    Victoria shook her head. “I don’t